''Unforeseen Blessings'' is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

album released in 1989. It was the third

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

by the all-star jazz group

The Leaders The Leaders is a jazz supergroup formed in 1983. The initial lineup of the Leaders was put together in 1983 by saxophonist Chico Freeman and featured trumpeter Don Cherry, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, along with a rhythm section of pianist Don ...

and the second to be released on the Italian

Black Saint Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

label. The album features performances by

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in ...

Chico Freeman Chico Freeman (born Earl Lavon Freeman Jr.; July 17, 1949) is a modern jazz tenor saxophonist and trumpeter and son of jazz saxophonist Von Freeman. He began recording as lead musician in 1976 with ''Morning Prayer'', won the New York Jazz Award ...

, Arthur Blythe, Cecil McBee,

Kirk Lightsey Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey (born February 15, 1937, Detroit, Michigan) is an American jazz pianist. Biography Lightsey had piano instruction from the age of five and studied piano and clarinet through high school. After service in the Army, Lights ...

and

Don Moye Donald Moye, Jr. (born May 23, 1946), known as Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percuss ...

Reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Scott Yanow awarded the album with two stars stating "Other than Lightsey's contributions, this effort is surprisingly forgettable."Yanow, S
AllMusic Review
accessed August 2, 2011 The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' called the album "curious," and noted: "The pianist plays unaccompanied on the opening track and two others, and is the most prominent soloist. Bowie only has one extensive feature... and there is precious little from Blythe and Freeman." Don Snowden of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' commented: "'Unforeseen Session' is more like it. Only five of the 13 selections sport the Leaders' full sextet line-up -- the remainder are solo piano pieces by Kirk Lightsey, brief percussion interludes and what sound like blueprints for future compositions... Mystifying."

Track listing

# "In a Minute" (Lightsey) - 2:51 # "Hip Dripper" (Blythe) - 3:35 # "Sun Precondition Five" (Moye) - 0:38 # "The Search" (Freeman) - 2:48 # "Lightish" (Lightsey) - 1:22 # "Sun Precondition Six" (Moye) - 0:18 # "Peacemaker" (McBee) - 6:34 # "Wait a Minute" (Bowie, Freeman, McBee) - 2:35 # "Agadir" (Blythe) - 1:36 # "Heaven Dance" (Lightsey) - 9:47 # "Now a Moment" (Lightsey) - :49 # "Lucia" (McBee) - 7:35 # "Blueberry Hill" (

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

, Stock) - 4:42

Personnel

– trumpet *

– saxophone * Arthur Blythe – saxophone * Cecil McBee – bass *

– piano *

– drums

References

{{Authority control 1989 albums The Leaders albums Black Saint/Soul Note albums